Abstract
In this study, Finnish ninth graders’ and their school guidance counselors’ views concerning ninth graders’ perceptions of gender-appropriateness of occupations were examined. Special interest was placed on evaluating if ninth graders bring out any gender stereotypical perceptions regarding science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) occupations. The data were gathered with the aid of an online survey (246 pupils) and semi-structured interviews (7 school guidance counselors). Ninth graders referred mostly to masculine physical dimension when justifying certain occupations being more suitable for men than for women. Respectively, they referred mostly to gender-typical interest when justifying certain occupations to be more suitable for women than for men. Boys presented more gender stereotypical perceptions of occupations than girls did. Boys also considered their own gender affecting their occupational preferences stronger than girls did. Guidance counselors reported ninth graders’ perceptions of occupations being still very gender-stereotypic and influencing on academic and occupational choices. To address occupational gender segregation, it is necessary to develop novel methods and materials recognizing gender stereotypes and demonstrating up-to-date STEM career knowledge.
Highlights
In Finnish education and labor market, gender segregation is a persistent phenomenon; changes in segregation levels in recent 30 years are minimal
Special interest was placed on evaluating if ninth graders bring out any gender stereotypical perceptions regarding science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) occupations
Our results suggest that Finnish ninth graders referred to attributes physically strong and daring when thinking about jobs suitable for men
Summary
In Finnish education and labor market, gender segregation is a persistent phenomenon; changes in segregation levels in recent 30 years are minimal. Gendered educational choices start to occur already on middle school level, where male and female pupils make different subject selections. In Finnish education system, adolescents typically orient to either general or vocational upper secondary education after compulsory basic education. On general upper secondary education, course selection continues to be gendered as female students opt less likely to advanced mathematics and physics courses (Pursiainen, Muukkonen-Van der Meer, Rusanen, & Harmoinen, 2018). Male and female students choose different educational tracks; the tracks of science, technology and transport are strongly male dominant and the tracks of education or health and welfare are, in turn, strongly female dominant (Statistics Finland, 2016). As in universities and universities of applied sciences, female students orient towards the fields of life sciences more likely than the fields of engineering, physical sciences or applied mathematics (Statistics Finland, 2016)
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